


Unexpected Advice

by sarahmicaela88



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:01:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28740678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahmicaela88/pseuds/sarahmicaela88
Summary: Morgan is at a crossroads in Season 10 Episode 7- #HashTag. Here is a different take if he had a conversation of relationships with an unlikely team member.
Relationships: Emily Prentiss & David Rossi, Savannah Hayes/Derek Morgan
Kudos: 2





	Unexpected Advice

Sitting in his chair in his office, Morgan contemplated what Garcia said to him earlier about small gestures. He really couldn't make sense of it though.

He was new at this, that was for sure. He knew how people saw him; a suave player type, but that wasn't who he was or set out to be. That was just what seemed to happen, especially with his work hours. Not many girls understood or knew how to coalesce with them so he just stopped serious dating.

But it was different with Savannah, she was different. She was sweet, smart, kind, beautiful, and more importantly she understood his insane schedule because she had one as well. Being a doctor wasn't easy and didn't have the best schedule, which is probably why it's worked for so long.

For how long would it last though was the question. 

Morgan didn't want to think about their relationship ending. He needed some advice from someone who would understand. But who?

He had already spoken to Penn and she gave him her advice on the subject, but he needed something more concrete. Hotch wasn't really an option, for obvious reasons. JJ was one of his best friends, but she was a girl and somehow he knew he would get more of the same girl advice he got from Penelope. Callahan would be more understanding, but still not someone he would go to. Reid, well, Reid. What advice could Pretty Boy give him that would be apropos to this situation? That left Rossi. Ironically enough, he probably knew more about this subject than anyone. He needed guy advice from someone who was married to someone in their line of work, which he was.

Getting up he went to see if Rossi was still in his office, then knocked. 

Hearing some movement and whispers from inside the office, Morgan's brow scrunched in confusion as he heard a click.

"Come in," he heard from inside a few seconds later.

Opening the door he saw Rossi sitting at his desk looking over a file and Emily sitting on his couch reading a book. Both seemed composed, but flushed and bereft of air at the same time.

Now the noises from before made sense. He smirked at Rossi.

"I'm not interrupting am I? Cause I can come back," he says.

"No, no, no. I was thinking of seeing JJ. I think I'll go see if she's still here," Emily says setting the book aside and getting off the couch. Of course Morgan noticed a few of the buttons on her blouse were undone.

"I think she's with Penelope," Morgan says still smirking. 

"Oh good, I think I'll go say hello," she says going to give Rossi a kiss before she went. 

But as Emily was beginning to pull away, Rossi deepened the kiss and his hand that was around her waist was heading for her ass. 

" _ Fermare, tu piantagrane _ ," Emily said smacking Rossi's hand away, but smiled nonetheless. 

Rossi smirked and watched his wife's ass sway as she walked out of his office.

"So I don't even need to wonder what you two were up to before I knocked do I?" Morgan asked, smiling.

"What can I say? I'm in love with my wife. Not gonna apologize for what we do behind closed doors," he says, still smiling.

"Nah, man more power to you. It's nice to hear after so many years that the sparks are still alive," Morgan says.

"It's more like a fire, but yes they're more than alive. Is there something I can help you with, Derek?" Rossi asks as he picks up a file from the shelf behind his desk.

"How long have you two been together?" Morgan asks Rossi.

The question surprised Rossi, but he answered nonetheless. 

"Gonna be a little more than five years since we got married and almost six years since we got together. What's on your mind, Derek?" He asked seriously. Now noticing the contemplating look the younger agent had.

Morgan sits on Rossi's chair in front of his desk.

"I've never had a long term relationship. Longest relationship I've had lasted five months. Right now I'm at the point in mine that I'm not sure how to navigate it. I'm on uncharted waters here, Rossi," he explains.

"This is about Savannah?" 

Morgan nods. "I find myself making promises to her lately. Good promises that I wanna keep and make plans for her, but I keep failing, man. Each time I get close to thinking it's gonna come through we get called away and I have to make that call that breaks the promise I made her. It makes me feel like the worst boyfriend in the world for not following through," he explains.

"Ah the crutch of being an agent in the BAU. Trust me I know the feeling. Ruined two marriages and several relationships like that. It was treacherous to try and have anything serious for many years. Many around here think it was because I was some Italian Lothario or had an anti marriage belief, maybe I did. But mostly it was because of the job. Doesn't give you a lot of freedom for much outside these walls," Rossi tells him.

"That's encouraging. But how do you and Prentiss do it? You two have been tight since day one. How do you two manage not to let the job get in the way and still have a happy relationship?" He asked honestly wanting to know.

"Through a lot of hard work, Derek. When she and I met, we both had the same demanding and time consuming job. Still do. We both also had been sans relationship for quite some time, so when we both got together we sort of had to learn how to not only be in a relationship, but compartmentalize the job and our emotions. And trust me that was not an easy task," Rossi tells him.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked, sitting up and listening intently. 

"We're both field agents, Derek. I guess now it's okay to admit, but since the moment I walked into the BAU again I was smitten with her. Completely captivated with her. But every time we both went into the field, my heart was in my throat. I would worry about her until we caught our UnSub. I knew she was more than capable to handle herself. I've seen her and she's amazing. But I would worry nonetheless. Of course I would never tell her because she would hand me my ass, but still," he said chuckling.

This made Morgan chuckle as well. 

"Yeah, she's something else alright," he agreed.

When Emily and Rossi's twins were born, she had taken a sabbatical for about two years to be a mom, then came back part time when the boys were put in daycare. She had also taken on a course at the academy teaching Arabic and other middle eastern dialects. But Morgan remembers her as a field agent, she was the definition of badass. He assumes more so now that she had twin boys to keep up with.

"So apart from all the worrying how did y'all consolidate everything to even have a relationship?" Derek asked.

"A lot of compartmentalization. Separating each part of ourselves to fit where we are at the moment. At work we're colleagues. In the field we're partners. At home and in bed we're lovers. With our children we're parents. But always husband and wife. Key is to give a hundred percent to each part of who we are, but never compromising who we truly are. Never asking for more than we are capable of. But as far as spending time together, that's always been tough, but we make time and make the effort.

"You have to make the effort. Otherwise it'll never happen. And big gestures aren't even the point. Like mine and Emily's honeymoon we planned on a cozy weekend in a B&B on Daufuskie Island, something close but still felt like a getaway. We ended up going on a trip that was a fortnight long to Mykonos then onto Verona. It was spontaneous and unexpected. Or our family vacation with the boys. We had planned on taking them to Dubai to see my in laws, but my mother in law had to leave for a week to Tel Aviv and both me and Em had a case, so it wasn't possible. We went away for a weekend to our cabin. Sure it wasn't as glamorous as Dubai, but we spent time together and that's what was important. Little gestures are what matters," he emphasized.

This made Morgan sigh and roll his eyes.

"What?" Rossi asked.

"Penelope told me the same thing. Not sure what she means though," he admits.

"It means no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to you, it means everything to her. When Emily has a bad day I make her ginger pistachio toffee cookies. They're her favorite, cheer her right up. On her birthday or any other special occasion I make her banana bread French toast and crab and avocado eggs Benedict because it's her favorite breakfast. On my birthday or Fathers day she makes me ricotta pancakes with raspberry compote, with my mother's ricotta recipe, because she knows how much I love them. And that my mother made them for me on my birthday. Or any random day of the week I have the nanny stay later or JJ offers to take the boys, so Emily and I can have a date night. We do the same for her and Will with Henry," Rossi says.

Morgan thought about everything that Rossi was telling him.

"Also can't stress this enough," Rossi says.

"What?" Morgan asked curiously.

"Flowers or special treats. Any random day of the week for no reason, doesn't matter if it's Saturday, Tuesday, or Thursday I buy her a bouquet of flowers I know she loves," Rossi tells him.

"You know Prentiss' favorite flowers?" Morgan asks impressed.

"She doesn't have a favorite flower. She likes a variety- roses, calla lilies, sunflowers, peonies, orchids, belles of Ireland, and parrot tulips. Gives me room to surprise her. Or sometimes when it's my turn to do the shopping I buy her her favorite snacks, candy bar, or her favorite bottle of wine. Her face lights up when I do something small like that," Rossi continues.

Morgan nods.

"Small things are important with schedules like ours cause sometimes that's all we get. Sure big gestures are nice, but rarely possible. But the small ones mean more. Shows that we listen and that we know them," Rossi tells him.

Smirking, Morgan looks at Rossi with an amused expression and shook his head while scrubbing his face.

"Something amusing?" Rossi asked as he watched Morgan.

"Just this," he gestured to the two of them. "This conversation. Never in a million years did I think I would ever come to you for relationship advice, or that I would need relationship advice. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. Just that you're David Rossi, nearly every rule of anti fraternization was made because of you. And now you're happily married with children. It's just a trip, you know," Morgan says, explaining himself.

"Trust me no one is more surprised about it than me. But you know what, I like it. No, I love it. Having someone waiting for me at home or me waiting for her. Someone who hugs and kisses me good morning and good night. I love having dinner with my wife, even if the dinners are at eleven p.m. Having coffee with her in the morning. Dropping my boys off at daycare. Hugging them goodnight and kissing Emily at the end of the night is the best part of my day. I wouldn't want anything else," Rossi says looking at four separate photos he keeps on his desk.

One was a double photo of Emily, one side she was smiling showing off her engagement ring with Rossi hugging her from behind, the other side was of her stroking her large baby bump during a photoshoot she and Rossi did. The second was of her and Rossi on their wedding day. The third was of Rossi, Emily, and their twins Alessandro and Lucca with Mudgie at the beach.

"You don't miss your old life at all?" Morgan asked as he picked up the photo of Rossi and Emily's wedding day, he looked at it intently. He had never seen two people more in love.

"Derek, I didn't have a life. I had a routine. I woke up in the morning, did some writing, drank scotch, cooked for one, then laid by myself in a huge bed. If I met someone, I temporarily had a warm body. But no real satisfaction. That wasn't much of a life, in my opinion. I know I have a life now and that's Emily and my sons. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world," Rossi says with conviction. 

"You two don't fight or have disagreements?" Morgan wondered.

"Of course we do. We're good, but not perfect. Especially with someone like me and someone like Emily. We both have a fiery nature by default and that sometimes can be a good thing, but not always. We lock horns quite often, but we always make up. We've had some fights that made me think that we should call it quits," Rossi admitted.

"Really that bad?" Morgan asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we have, but then I know I'd rather fight with her than make love and be with anyone else. Emily is it for me. There isn't anyone else," Rossi tells the younger man.

"Okay, I don't mean any disrespect in asking this, I swear I don't. But after two failed marriages and one spontaneous elopement that turned into a quicker annulment. How do you know?" Morgan asked sincerely. 

"Because I'm in love with Emily. I've done things for her that I never did or wanted to with my ex wives. Or old loves. When Emily was offered the job at Interpol to head up the team in London I would've been willing to move for her. I didn't do that for wife number two. She had to stay in Paris for her job, I didn't want to. I wanted to come back stateside, she couldn't relocate. So that was the end of that.

"Never have she and I left on a case and left things unresolved, just leaves more room for resentment and anger to fester and that's not good. Which is how marriage number one ended. Carolyn wouldn't talk to me after a while and neither would I. That was our downfall. I've never been good at compromise, but with Emily I want to be a good husband and do anything to make her happy.

"You know what happened with Emma Taylor Schuller. She wanted to settle down, get married then have the white picket fence and house in the suburbs. At that age I wasn't ready to commit, got scared, and ran. This time I ran, but in the opposite direction. I ran to Emily cause I knew she was my future. For the first two years of our marriage I was terrified of  _ her _ leaving," he admits.

An eye raised in surprise at what Rossi said. 

"Seriously? You thought Emily would want out?" He asks.

"She's the daughter of two dignitaries. She's traveled and lived in so many countries growing up. She's worldly, went to the best schools, received the best education. Met world leaders all her life. Worked for Interpol, then came to the FBI, then the BAU. She had everything going for her. Why would someone like that want to settle down with a three time failed marriage has been and move to a gated mansion? She could have done so much better than me," Rossi says honestly.

"Rossi, man, that woman loves you. I remember the day of your wedding. I have never seen a bride so damn happy on her wedding day. The woman was literally glowing. Trust me, every man in that ballroom wanted to be you that day. The way she looked at you. . . every man wants to be looked at by their woman that way," Morgan assures him.

"I was so damn scared that day. Kept thinking that she would ditch me at the altar. Fifty ton weight lifted off my shoulder when I saw my father in law walking her down the aisle," Rossi said reminiscing.

"Man, she didn't walk down the aisle. She practically ran down the aisle to you," Morgan reminded him, chuckling. 

"It was a nice change of pace. Usually by that point in the relationship they're running in the opposite direction," Rossi says sardonically. 

Something had been on Morgan's mind for quite some time and he figured now was as good a time as any to ask. 

"May I ask you something? Feel free to say no to answering but it's something I've wondered for a while now," Morgan asks, choosing his words carefully.

"Shoot," Rossi gesturing for him to go ahead.

"That whole business with Doyle and JTF-12, you knew about it before any of us right?" He asks, Rossi nods. "Well after Prentiss came back to us when it was safe to do so, was it ever awkward for you two? To move forward and get past being separated?" Morgan asked, not trying to seem like he was prying too much.

"Honestly? It was hard not being able to be with my wife, especially cause she was pregnant with the boys at the time. It helped that we emailed, talked every night, texted, and face timed, but not being able to touch her or hold her that was torture for me. Yes, she was only gone three months, but they were the longest three months of my life.

"But to answer your question, no. Because she was still Emily Anna Prentiss Rossi. My Emily. And some sociopath from the past was not gonna take her away from me. We had a long discussion about what the separation had done to us, but we decided not to let Doyle win. The entire scheme of Ian's was to take Emily's family away, make her suffer like he had done all those years in Kwan-Li-So. So if we called it quits and let our marriage fall apart then Doyle won. Yes, the whole experience changed us. How could it not, but we trusted each other and love one another to know that what we have is solid enough to get past it. And we did. That was one of the biggest obstacles our marriage faced and we endured. So happy we did," Rossi says smiling.

Smiling, Morgan got to his feet, puts the photo back and he shakes Rossi's hand. 

"Thanks, man. This really helped me. Really thank you," Morgan said sincerely.

"I'm glad. And take care of Savannah. She's special. Not many like her in the sea," Rossi says.

"I will. Good night, Rossi," Morgan says smiling as he leaves.

As he was leaving Prentiss was coming up the steps and heading for her husband's office.

"Hey, leaving already?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah, I have some making up to do with Savannah. Don't wanna make her wait any longer," Morgan explains.

"Ah, gotcha. Penelope, JJ, and Callahan say wonderful things about her, she sounds like a lovely girl. Don't take that for granted," Emily advised him.

"I don't plan on it. You should meet her. I know you'd love her," Morgan suggests.

"That would be great. What if in the next few weeks when we all have a night off me and Dave have you two for dinner?" Prentiss suggests.

"I'm sure she would like that. Well I should get going. Night, Emily," he says, giving her a hug.

"Night, Derek," she says walking into Rossi's office.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave comments. Tell me whether I should continue with this and if y'all like it.


End file.
